mac pro build, just one question
ive been looking for benchmarks for 2x nvidia 7300 cards vs 1 radeon x1900 card and I cant find any, I know its only a 90$ diff but Im going to be gaming so I care (starcraft 2!!) Anyway, my build is(right now)
* Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
* 4GB (4 x 1GB)
* 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
* Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
* One 16x SuperDrive
* Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
Subtotal \t$4,536.00 (I get a student discount) + free i pod mini
so yeah, I want to see some benchmarks
* Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
* 4GB (4 x 1GB)
* 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
* Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
* One 16x SuperDrive
* Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
Subtotal \t$4,536.00 (I get a student discount) + free i pod mini
so yeah, I want to see some benchmarks
Comments
ive been looking for benchmarks for 2x nvidia 7300 cards vs 1 radeon x1900 card and I cant find any, I know its only a 90$ diff but Im going to be gaming so I care (starcraft 2!!) Anyway, my build is(right now)
* Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
* 4GB (4 x 1GB)
* 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
* Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
* One 16x SuperDrive
* Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
Subtotal \t$4,536.00 (I get a student discount) + free i pod mini
so yeah, I want to see some benchmarks
I'm not sure I have benchmarks for multiple 7300s but I can garuantee you that the x1900 xt will be better. I have a Mac Pro with similar specs (Octo-core, 3 HDs, 2x Superdrives - everything else the same) and the x1900 xt is an awesome card - 7300s are not good at all.
Ok, so ill get that. I know, I'm not too fond of the mac pros not supporting the 8800's or even the 7800's....I don't know what apples deal is with not allowing the use of any card (esp in the mac pro, a system based on customization), and I already have two hard drives in my PC that I'm just going to format. (120 and 250 respectively)
Apple has been behind in the GFX department (especially for their professional lineup) for quite some time - within a few months of Leopard's release in October I expect a Mac Pro refresh that supports more current cards - probably 8800 GTX's. The ATi x1900 XT is a good card if you're running Universal games (work natively with intels) but not so fast if they haven't been formatted and are still for PPC. If you use Boot Camp (free but you have to buy the windows OS) the x1900 is amazingly fast - I get 250+ fps full screen everything high (20" screen) on every first person shooter I try, some games I get closer to 400.
can i use boot camp with a not so purchased windows
yes if it has sp2 installed and can solve the key/code issue.
ive been looking for benchmarks for 2x nvidia 7300 cards vs 1 radeon x1900 card and I cant find any, I know its only a 90$ diff but Im going to be gaming so I care (starcraft 2!!) Anyway, my build is(right now)
* Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
* 4GB (4 x 1GB)
* 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
* ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
* Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
* One 16x SuperDrive
* Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
* Mac OS X - U.S. English
Subtotal \t$4,536.00 (I get a student discount) + free i pod mini
so yeah, I want to see some benchmarks
The ATI X1900XT is a must. Don't bother with the 7300GT. Coming from me, username "nvidia2008", you know I mean it
Also, you should get two hard disks. Mirror the partitions you need and use non-raid on the parts you need more speed for. Basically, get two 500gb or two 250gb or something or make sure if you only have one drive in the MacPro get a nice backup external FW800 drive. Sorry I can't explain properly this hard disk thing.
Apple has been behind in the GFX department (especially for their professional lineup) for quite some time - within a few months of Leopard's release in October I expect a Mac Pro refresh that supports more current cards - probably 8800 GTX's. The ATi x1900 XT is a good card if you're running Universal games (work natively with intels) but not so fast if they haven't been formatted and are still for PPC. If you use Boot Camp (free but you have to buy the windows OS) the x1900 is amazingly fast - I get 250+ fps full screen everything high (20" screen) on every first person shooter I try, some games I get closer to 400.
I agree with this somewhat. ATI 1900XT is a bit behind the times. If blackmajik you want to play the latest games *right now*, then get the 1900XT. If you are waiting mostly for StarCraft2, then as buddha (geez, can't believe that username was actually available... heh) says, Apple may hopefully by end of the year release an nVidia 8800GTS or GTX 768mb or something like that for da Mac Pros. Probably when MacPros move to 45nm anyways.
The ATI X1900XT is a must. Don't bother with the 7300GT. Coming from me, username "nvidia2008", you know I mean it
Also, you should get two hard disks. Mirror the partitions you need and use non-raid on the parts you need more speed for. Basically, get two 500gb or two 250gb or something or make sure if you only have one drive in the MacPro get a nice backup external FW800 drive. Sorry I can't explain properly this hard disk thing.
I have a 250 gig HD allready that im going to throw in it.
4 x 1GB = $699 (minus a little for your student discount)
2 x 2Gb = $393 (plus the 2 x 512MB default you get, gives a 5GB total for $300 less.)
http://www.crucial.com/store/ListPar...20%284-core%29
The 500GB HDD is a waste of money as you can keep the default 250GB and install another 500GB for less than the $129 Apple want. With your current two drives that would fill all four bays.
Now you can afford the 23" display rather than the 20".
true, but im going to college in two weeks and I cant deal with the hassle...Im usually all about saving as much money as I can....maybe in a few years ill buy another 4....that would be crazyyy....although no apps support more than 4 anyway.
Theoretically then if you have 512, 512, 1gb, 1gb, 1gb, 1gb sticks for 5GB total, that's fine. Or just keep your 512 512 as backup, if it is different brand to the 1gb sticks. Others here will have more real-world experience with this RAM stuff. I think I would suggest get your 4 1gb sticks from Apple or other, then keep 512 512 aside. To play it safe.
While current apps may not directly access more than 4gb at once (64bit Tiger command line apps can do it I believe)... Once you run several apps you'll notice your 4gb get maxed mighty fast.
8GB here we come!!! w000000ooooooop
2 x 2GB is just $380 now and in my book putting 2GB modules in is better than 1GB modules.